Race
by bitemeplease235
Summary: It was a race against time to save the one we had considered family. We had three short days to save her from herself, or our entire family would die with her...
1. Day 1: Bella

I moved through the motions of each day robotically, only responding or eating when forced. I wasn't hungry, or thirsty, or cold, or happy. I wasn't anything. I just was. I could tell Charlie was trying extra hard to be optimistic, and I vaguely felt guilty. But my security veil was up at all times, had been up since I had smashed all of my CDs, long since I had clawed the radio out of my truck. The only time it dropped was when I slept, and I woke up screaming every night. Charlie had stopped coming in. He knew by now that no one was coming for me.

***

"Bella? Do you want to come?" Jessica asked gently without turning to look at me. They all knew too well that I would say no without even listening to the question. At lunch, I just sat. I didn't eat, because I wasn't hungry.

I shook my head no and ignored them for the rest of lunch. I could hear them talking about some Halloween party. I looked around, vaguely interested in the date. It was the 31. Halloween.

I shuffled off to biology, not noticing the stares as I scooted my chair as close to the edge of the table as I could. I didn't want any reminders. Not now, with a holiday full of supernatural costumes and scary stories.

At dinner, Charlie told me that he needed to go down to the station for the night. Something about it being a crime filled night. I didn't care, just nodded when he asked if I would be fine. He told me to give out candy if someone rang the bell, and I nodded again. He left, and I finished the last of my math homework. I worked on an essay that wouldn't be due for until December in English. I had just started my extra credit work for History when the trick or treaters started showing up.

The first child was a fairy princess. I numbly wished them a happy Halloween and gave them some candy. Next were Angela's twin siblings, who were bumble-bees. I repeated the process. I opened the door the third time and nearly lost it. There was a little boy standing there in a little suit with a cape. His face had white paint on it, and he had plastic fangs in his mouth that were dripping with red kool-aid. Nothing had hurt so much in so long. I threw all of the candy at him and shut the door, sobbing as I slid against the wood. I curled up in a ball, feeling the same hole again, ripping me apart.

When the doorbell rang again, I ignored it. I was still trying to quiet the tears and hold myself together. The hole seemed to be getting bigger, tearing me into two.

There was a knock on the door, and I ignored that as well. When the door was kicked open, I stayed in my place.

"Bella, is it?" a bubbly voice called through the house. "Isabella? Isabella Swan?"

I stayed on the ground, my arms circling around my waist tightly, keeping me as whole as I could be. I tried to place the voice, but it sounded too beautiful to belong to any human.

"Ah, Bella!" a familiar male voice said. It took me a minute to realize that it was Laurent. My brain was too busy trying to stop the pain to try and figure out why he was here, or who the female was. I was too heartbroken to care about anything, simply being a shell.


	2. Day 1: Edward

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

My cell phone continued to buzz at me. The rats skittered anxiously around it, unsure of what the small silver object was or why it moved. The residents of the shack continued to yell at each other, both angry, both oblivious that in a matter of seconds, I could snap their necks and drain their body of any glorious vital fluid.

But I wouldn't. It didn't matter that I couldn't remember the last time I had hunted. It didn't matter that I couldn't remember the last time I had spoken with my family. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was still in the little home in Forks, Washington. Safe. Beautiful.

_My Bella._

I knew the pain that even thinking her name would bring me, but I deserved it. I was a monster who was ruining her life. And because I valued her life more than anything in mine, I left. She would heal, become happy, have children, grow old. Live.

She would have to live for the both of us, for when I left, I left my life with her. She was my everything, so I had to leave. I couldn't continue to endanger her life. It took everything I had to leave. It cost me my family. My love. My life. My sanity.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

The phone had been buzzing angrily for the last ten minutes unceasingly. I would have liked to throw it at something, smash it into pieces, burn it. But the dry sobs that were wracking my body made it impossible to do anything but hunch over into a ball and prevent the hole inside me from ripping me apart.

Three hours, twenty four minutes, and seventeen seconds later, I was able to pull myself together enough to grab the offending silver object from across the room.

_Eighteen New Voice Messages, One Hundred and Thirty Seven Missed Calls._

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

_Buzz. Buzz. Bu-_

"Hello." I rasped shortly, wincing at how detached my voice sounded. I hadn't spoken in weeks, not since the last time I made my family swear to never involve themselves with…

"Edward?" the voice asked acidly. She sounded surprised. I suppose that was to be expected, what with the minimal amount of contact between me and my family in the past.

"Yes." I answered curtly.

"Well, I should feel honored. Do you hear that everyone? The great and almighty Edward Cullen has answered his phone-"

"Shut the hell up." I growled as I snapped the phone shut.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. _

Rosalie.

God, the first time I had opened the walls of communication, it had to be to Rosalie. The one member of my family who had never been supportive of her. The one person who could have cared less about her. If it weren't for Emmett, she would have been mere ashes by now.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buz-_

"What the hell do you want Rosalie?" I hissed angrily.

"Edward?" a different female voice asked frantically.

Alice.

"Alice?" I asked flatly.

"Edward! God Rosalie, I could murder you right now! Edward, something's wrong." She said quickly, the frenzied tone never leaving.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to sound more interested. Alice was the one person in the rest of the family who I could always count on, for we were both freaks among the freaks. While Carlisle and I shared the father-son bond, Alice filled the sister void well. She was my best friend before her, and she was one of the few things I felt bad about.

"I'm sorry Edward. I didn't try to look, I swear, but when you become attuned to these things for so long, it's hard to stop them, and-"

"Alice, what's wrong?" I asked, only having to add a little inflection in my voice. I was beginning to become genuinely curious.

"Edward…something's happened. To Bella."


	3. Day 1: Sam

"Emily, I love you. Stay here." I told her gravely. She nodded, eyes wide. I was frightening her again.

"I'm sorry sweetheart," I apologized her as I pulled her to my chest. "I love you too much to let anything happen to you."

"I know." She told me weakly before attempting to push me out the door. "Come back soon."

"Always." I whispered fervently before kissing her gently. A second later, I was tying my pants to my cord before phasing quickly.

_Sam. _Jared thought. He and Paul made up my pack, though I could tell Embry and Jacob were close. I only hoped that we could stop this…infestation…before it became time for them to change. They would not have to go through what I did.

_Sam, there's something new. _ He thought urgently. His thoughts were too scrambled to make out anything yet, other than the scent of two bloodsuckers coming across our land.

_Bella's home alone._ He told me gravely. _They're human suckers. _

_No._ I mentally hissed. Not Bella Swan. Her life had already been ruined by those filthy bloodsuckers. I didn't care that they were animal drinkers. They had killed her well enough when they left last month. Jared didn't have to finish his statement. I knew that she smelled better than the average human to those monsters, and I knew that she was foolishly trusting of them.

_Bella Swan?_ A new voice asked.

_Paul, hurry up. We need to beat them there._ I thought urgently as I pushed my legs faster.

I could tell that we were halfway there, with only five minutes left in the journey.

_Sam,_ Jared thought tentatively. _Is that…b…what do I smell?_

Blood. He was going to say blood.

_Damn. I smell it too. _ Paul thought angrily as he raced ahead.

We pushed ourselves faster, racing against the clock. Bella's life was at stake, and we were the only ones who could save her. Once again, it was those monstrous bloodsuckers fault.

_We're almost there._ Jared thought anxiously. And he had reason to be anxious, for now that we were closer, we could hear.

A girl was whimpering, and her heartbeat was wildly irregular. A sickening crunch could be heard, and I assumed that it was one of her bones.

"Bella, you didn't think that I would just let Edward get away with murdering James, did you? The way I see it, we can be nice and even. An eye for an eye, a mate for a mate." The female bloodsucker's voice oozed with venom, and I howled as we came closer.

A second later, we made it within sight of the gruesome trio. The male simply stood there, uncaring. He didn't move to hurt Bella, but he didn't try and stop the female either. The female was taunting Bella, circling her broken and battered body. She had been careful to let no blood spill. It was clear that her intent was to torture Bella as long as possible. As for said human, she lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. Her arm was at an odd angle, and her eyes were closed.

With a loud growl, I leapt for the female, making it clear in my mind that the other two were to go after the male. The female's red hair whipped around in the wind as she turned to look at me. A sinister smile graced her lips before I came crashing down on top of her.

The battle that ensued would be epic amongst the pack. We all survived, though barely. Through the gnashing of teeth and metallic sound of ripping stone, Paul had received a broken arm. I sustained a mere cut on my cheek, though it seemed deep. Jared escaped unscathed, thanks to a surprise distraction.

Amidst the snarls and growls, Bella had woken up. I saw her get up through Jared's head, and I assumed that she was trying to leave when I saw her trip over the female's arm. She caught herself with her good arms, which would have been fine, had she not scraped her hand. I saw only one drop of blood fall before the female lunged out of my grasp and towards Bella.

I tore her to bits while she was distracted by Bella. It was almost ironic how much the story reminded me of the third wife. Jared and Paul used the distraction to their advantage as well, for I howled victoriously when I heard the male's final cry.

It was only as we were throwing the final pieces into a bonfire when we realized something was amiss.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

The bloodcurdling scream tore through the calm air of the crackling fire, and Jared and Paul's heads shot up.

_You don't think…_ Jared trailed off.

_Shit._ Paul thought when he reached Bella's side. When I loped up next to him, I could see why. There was a crescent shaped scar on her wrist that had been re-opened.

_She's been bitten._

**So I figured that I'd explain myself. I've had the first chapter of this sitting on my hard-drive for a while now, and I've never really liked it. But today, I was putting off doing homework when I came across it again and decided to post. It'll be a short story, which will probably equate to several little bitty chapters. And you're going to have to piece together the puzzle with some things in this story-I won't come right out and say them. So what did you think? Good, bad, needs work, I want a llama, etc. Let me know!**


	4. Day 1: Esme and Emmett

"Carlisle!" I cried as I frantically began throwing everything in sight into the closest suitcase. "Call the airport _now_!"

"Esme?"

He was by my side in a second and soothing me in the next. It took a moment for the dry sobs to subside, but as soon as I did, I began to relay the conversation I had with Alice.

"Alice couldn't see much, but we need to leave now. Call the airport, get tickets for us. Alice and Jasper are halfway there already. Oh, and someone has to call Emmett and Rosalie, they need to know…" I told him, mumbling the end to myself in my daze.

"Halfway where?" he asked as he dialed the number a second later.

"Oh Carlisle." I whispered mournfully, not even able to speak at a human decibel level. "Forks."

***

"What the hell do you mean, Forks?" I asked in confusion.

"Emmett, its Bella. Something's happened." Carlisle answered somberly.

"Bella?" I asked, feeling for the first time since I was changed like there wasn't enough oxygen. Bella was that final piece to our family. While I wasn't the most thoughtful person in the family, I could easily tell that there was something missing before she stumbled into our lives. With her here, the family was complete. Carlisle and Esme had another daughter, Alice had a best friend, I had a new little sister. But Edward…God, did he love her. She was his absolute, his everything. No one realized how empty he was until she got here and showed us how amazing we could be.

"Alice can't see much and it's frightening her. But the last complete thing she saw was Victoria and Laurent approaching her house." He said quickly and quietly.

"Shit. We're coming." I swore as I ended the conversation. I was on the phone with the airlines in the next moments, booking a flight that night out of Africa.

"Emmett?" Rosalie asked as she walked up to me. It had been a cloudy day, and we were planning on going sightseeing again.

"Rosalie, something's wrong. We're going home." I told her, wrapping her in a tight hug. She simply slid her arms around me and hugged me back. She didn't need to ask what home meant. Up until Forks, we had moved around every three or four years. No place we had ever been before had really been home. But the minute Bella tripped, blushing and timid, into our lives, we knew where our family belonged. Where our home was.

**Music Listened To:**

**Samson (Regina Spektor), The Show Must Go On (Moulin Rouge version), Lady (Regina Spektor), So She Dances (Josh Groban), Lost (Michael Bublé), Let Me Fall (Josh Groban), A Perfectly Good Heart (Taylor Swift)**

**And I just figured I'd warn anyone reading this that if I'd had a third option, this would be under angst. Definitely not like hard-core angst, but most definitely thoughts of suicide and other depressing things (like a world where the Cullen's don't exist. Wait…), so if that's not your thing, I wouldn't read. **


	5. Day 1: Alice

"Alice."

I didn't answer, simply pushing my legs to run faster. I knew they wouldn't, but I could still try.

"Alice."

I ignored him still. This was a race. A race to save her. She was the final link to our family, the only one who could bring us all together. And if she was gone…we would be too.

Edward would go to Italy, I could see that much. He was already toying with the idea now, in between thoughts of hijacking the plane and flying it himself.

Esme and Carlisle would be heartbroken. Edward was their first child, and more like a son to either one of them than any of us.

Emmett would be crushed. As much as he would hate to admit it, he really wanted another sister. He and Bella clicked.

And if Emmett was upset, Rosalie would be pissed. She'd hate Bella all the more for ruining our family, but would hide it from everyone else.

Jasper would be upset too. All of the heartbreak would destroy him, not to mention his own regrets. He still blamed himself for the birthday incident, and he genuinely liked Bella. We would have to leave the rest of our disintegrating family.

And I would be a mess. Bella was my best friend. My sister. My brother's girlfriend. And I loved her dearly. I'd have to cope, and it would take time. And in that time, I'd have to leave Jasper. I could see that. It would be too much for him, and as horrible as leaving would be for the both of us, it was what would be necessary to mourn not just Bella or Edward, but the loss of our family.

It didn't help that I could see exactly how perfect we could all be together. Carlisle and Esme would be more relaxed, happier. Every one of their children would be blissfully happy for the rest of eternity, just as they believed we deserved. Emmett would be more teasing and gentle, Rosalie would soften a bit. Jasper would be happier and more carefree, and I would have a new sister and best friend. And Edward…would be in complete ecstasy. He and Bella would live an idyllic eternity. Their relationship was so pure and magnificent, it surpassed any of ours.

"Alice." Jasper growled in warning. I ignored him yet again, so he took matters into his own hands.

"Oof." We fell to the ground in a tangled mess of limbs, frightening the flock of birds that was resting on the trees above us.

"Jasper!" I growled back, trying my hardest to shove him off. But he was stronger than I was, both physically and mentally, in the finer art of fighting. Usually, I had the upper hand, but I was too lost in my own thoughts to see my future.

"No, Alice, you need to stop." He told me, calmly waiting for me stop thrashing in his arms. "She'll be fine. We all will."

"No she won't! She needs us!" I shrieked hysterically. I was beyond consoling. The only thing I could picture was the dead look in Bella's eyes as she answered the door, completely unaware of who was standing behind it.

"She's alive." He told me firmly. But the way he said it made me believe that he needed to be told as much as I did.

"But for how long?" I whispered mournfully. His arms and legs had ceased encasing me, and instead held me gently.

"I know Alice. I know." He assured me, running his hands through my hair as his arms held me while I sobbed. It was incredibly unsatisfying, dry-sobbing, and I wondered what it felt like to cry as a human. I assumed it was rather soothing, a good release.

"God, Jasper. She needs us. SHE NEEDS US!" I screamed. "I miss her so badly."

He said nothing, allowing a calm, stagnant feeling to permeate the air. I appreciate it, and thanked him with a weak smile when my body had stopped shaking.

"Forks is six and a half hours away." He said as he pulled us up off the forest floor.

And off we flew.

**Sorry! I'm a really bad updater…and I know that. It's just a crazy year. (And geez, its only January!) Again, I'm writing this as fast as possible for you guys, so if you want to know what I listened to, just PM me. **


	6. Day 1: Charlie and Carlisle

The dull roar that usually took over the tiny police station dimmed immediately as soon as I stepped in the room.

"Chief…" Someone said mournfully.

"What happened?" I asked. Normally these guys wouldn't shut up, and now the six of them wouldn't even meet my eyes.

"There was…something…something happened." One of the deputies said softly, almost too quietly to hear. He wouldn't look up, just kept staring at a coffee stain on the graying carpet.

"What? What happened?" I questioned, ignoring the sinking feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.

"There was an accident." Another man choked out.

"Where?" I breathed a sigh of relief. It must have been a bad car accident, to get them this worked up. But as horrible as these things were, I would be fine. Bella was at home, and Renee and that new husband of hers were off in Hawaii hang-gliding or something like that. No one in my family could get hurt.

"We think it was another one of those animal attacks." A voice mumbled quietly.

"What aren't you telling me?" I said. They were hedging around the issue too much. There was something personal about this. _Where did Billy say he was going to be tonight?_

"There was also a kidnapping in the nearby area. We think the two could be related," One of the men who had been on the force for nearly as long as I had murmured quietly.

"Oh god…" I muttered. We hadn't had anyone kidnapped or murdered in years. In fact, I couldn't remember a time that it had happened since I had been on the force.

"We've already called in the boys from Seattle and Portland. This is going to be a big case." The man continued.

"Who? Where?" I asked numbly. Our town was so little, everyone so innocent. All those little kids running around tonight to go trick or treating, it could have been any one of them…_Bella…_

"It was a residential home, sir. There was no evidence of breaking and entering, but there was evidence of a scuffle. It appears they opened the door for trick or treaters's and were dragged out." The youngest of the bunch blurted out, trying to sound professional. _Bella is home…Bella is so weak now…_

"Where is my daughter?"

"Sir, maybe you need to take a bre-"

"Where the hell is my daughter?" I demanded, not caring that my voice was quavering or that my hands were shaking. None of them had looked at me before and they kept up with the pattern. "Where is she?!?"

"Chief."

"Where is my baby girl?" I turned on my heel and roared at him. He didn't even flinch.

"We don't know."

***

"There's a half an hour until we land." I said as soon as I opened my cell phone. Esme was clutching my hand tightly, trying to keep as still as possible to hear every syllable spoken.

"Carlisle, Charlie is going to call you in three minutes. You are not on a plane. You have no idea what he's talking about." Alice ordered quickly.

"Of course." I responded smoothly, smiling for the benefit of the only other human still awake.

"Can you try to calm him down? He's about to go into post-traumatic shock." She requested.

"Done. He's practically family to us." I said, nodding at Esme to remind her to fidget. She released a deep breath and re-crossed her legs. Taking her lead, I stretched out my legs and rested them on the plastic footrest.

"I'll meet you at the airport with a car." She said before hanging up.

"Alright, goodbye." I said quietly, noticing the human nodding off in her sleep.

"Charlie knows." Esme commented sadly. I nodded and squeezed her hand in reassurance. Our family would be fine. It had to be.


	7. Day 2: Bella and Rosalie

**There are some adult words in this chapter, so fair warning. Don't forget to review please!**

Blood.

I could smell it surrounding me, the unmistakable rust and copper scent permeating the thick air.

I could hear the noises of a nearby scuffle, but couldn't really find the focus to care. I was too busy trying figure out why my eyes weren't opening, or why the world felt so fuzzy and distant to me.

And then I felt it.

Fire.

My hand was on fire.

Faster than I thought possible , it began to creep up my palm and blaze into my wrist.

It felt just like it had a few months ago in the ballet studio, but it was different this time.

Edward didn't want me.

Edward didn't love me.

Edward didn't care if I lived or if I died.

No one would save me this time, and now I would be doomed to live an eternity alone. So I began to do the only thing I could.

I cried. And screamed. And sobbed.

And no one came.

A wolf howled nearby, and I hoped that he would finish me off before the venom did. But then the fire moved to my elbow and I couldn't focus on anything but my charring skin and the blistering heat.

***

"…and then I walk in the room to find him sucking on some slut's neck!" She said as she re-applied her lipstick.

"I really have to go find my husband." I told her shortly before leaving the restroom. Stupid humans. Our flight attendant couldn't keep her eyes off Emmett the entire flight and then ushered me to the bathroom afterwards to have a heart to heart because she wants to warn me about cheating men. God, I despise humans.

"Just don't forget what I said!" She called after me as I let the door slam shut.

"So are we waiting for Edward or not?" I asked Emmett when I had reached hearing distance.

"Still not sure. Alice is watching, though." He said as he rose to his feet and gave me a quick kiss.

"What about everyone else?" I asked as we settled into the plastic airport seats. Bella Swan may not be my top priority, but I wasn't just a heartless bitch. She hadn't thrown her humanity away-it was taken. And if we didn't save her, our family would fall apart. I would be damned if I let that happen to us.

"Carlisle is gathering supplies for faking her death. Esme is packing and preparing so that we're ready to leave if we find her. Jasper's trying to sniff out any anguish, but the closest thing he's found so far is some girl PMS-ing." He rattled off. My Emmett would have at least smiled at the end, but this Emmett was so overwhelmed that he just buried his head in his hands.

"We _will_ find her, Em." I promised him gently as I rubbed his back.

"I know. But can you imagine what Edward's going through?" He mumbled. "If he loves Bella half as much as I love you, then his entire life is lying somewhere in Forks all alone and going through hell. He has to sit on a plane and know that the thing he loves most in this world is suffering and he can't do a damn thing to stop it."

"We're just going to have to look harder, then." I said stubbornly.

Emmett's phone buzzed, interrupting our moment, and he flipped it open to check the message.

"Alice says not to wait. They need us at home." He said as he unfolded his large frame from the cheap seat.

"Let's go."


End file.
